Federal officials took some responsibility yesterday for widespread public anger over the distribution of swine flu vaccine.

“Whether we meant to or not, I think we led expectations of availability to be higher than they have been,” said Anne Schuchat (right), who heads the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “And so that, I think, can lead to frustration.”

Committee chairman Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said the CDC initially “estimated that almost half the U.S. population would be in a priority group to receive the vaccine. However, an advisory group also generated a secondary and more limited list of those who were most at risk in case vaccine availability fell short of what was planned.

“This is exactly what happened, but states, counties, and cities were allowed to target whatever population they chose for vaccination. This has led to understandable public frustration and anger, mixed with confusion over just who should get vaccinated…. I worry that we are undermining confidence, generally, in the public health system, and that people most at risk are not only not getting the vaccine but have stopped trying.”

You’re a high-risk patient. You need a swine flu vaccine. Your doctor has none. Where can you get help?

We’re hearing this anguished question over and over again. The Texas Department of State Health Services knows the answer — and isn’t sharing it.

Its Web site has the obligatory FAQ section, but this question isn’t on the list.

Another section of the site is labeled “H1N1 vaccine distribution,” with categories for allocations by county, to local health departments and to private providers. But there are no links — only the words “coming soon.”

Early this morning, my colleague Jeff Weiss asked state health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams: “Why does the state not post on its Web site the names of every provider that you’ve ordered vaccine shipped to and the amount of vaccine that you have had shipped there to date?”

Her only responses:
* “We are working on a county-by-county list of totals. Hopefully we will be able to post those numbers soon.”
* “Providers receiving vaccine at this point are getting amounts to serve their own patients. They are reaching out to their own high-risk patients and are quickly exhausting their supplies, which are limited right now due to national production.”

So all most people know is what we’ve been able to figure out so far: Dallas County’s health department is having a mass clinic tomorrow, aimed at high-risk people without insurance. And Farmers Branch entrepreneur Jeff Vitt (right) is selling vaccines for $20 a pop to anyone who walks through his door.

And Vitt’s clinic (right) has been vaccinating anybody willing to pay $20 — not just those in highest-risk groups who are supposed to be first in line. They are, according to the Centers for Disease Control, “pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact, children 6 months through 4 years of age, and children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.”

The state health department says it is investigating. Vitt says he has done nothing wrong.

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